LRT 8858 Micro Hot Air Station SMD Rework Desoldering Digital Heat Gun

So I ordered this tool a few days ago, and got it today - and I set out to try it. I had never used a hot-air soldering tool before in my 52 years, but I needed something more than the soldering irons and stations I do own in order to remove some SMD components from some boards I'm salvaging parts from. If there is anything to say bad to say about it, it would be that a small instruction booklet might be helpful. As it was, the tool itself (well, it's controller) had clear and easy-to-read English-language instructions, and I was able to get things up and running in a few minutes after putting it all together. One thing that was a tiny bit confusing was the fact that you have to pick the thing up, before it starts working; it has some kind of built-in motion sensor that starts it up (even after you turn on the controller and set the temperature and fan speed); it came up to temperature very quickly. When you set it down, and leave it for a bit, it goes into a "cool-down" mode - turning off (I think) the heater and running the fan at high speed to cool the tool down; when you pick it up again, it switches back to the speed you set, and brings it back up to temperature again. Once it cools down all the way, it shuts itself off - but pick it up again, and away you go! I liked that as a nice safety aspect (though part of me would like to also see it run all the time, so you could do "hands free" work with it as a heat source - but maybe that's a bit dangerous; leave that to a regular hot-air gun... The tools and tips it came with were adequate for my immediate needs, but I might pick up some others later. I liked the tweezers - very useful for picking off SMD components. I didn't know what the other tool was until I re-read the product description; I still don't know if that tool is only meant for SMD components or not (probably). I'll have to try it out later. With the tool, I was able to remove parts I couldn't possibly do with a soldering iron; the smallest part was an SMD resistor (I think); I'm not sure of the size - 803? Not the smallest, but smaller than a grain of rice, certainly. The largest component I removed was a signal transformer the size of a hockey puck - I was just barely able to dump enough heat into all of the pins to remove it from the board, though some of the pins stuck in the board and came out of the plastic bobbin - and I had to remount them and reesolder the coil wires to them. So it has limits, and really that part was well beyond what it was probably designed to handle. But that was the thing - I could dump enough heat into a large enough area to easily and quickly remove just about anything else; some things I had to add a bit of flux and/or extra solder to get it it melt and stay melted for removal - but overall, I could do a much better job with such parts than I ever could with my largest soldering iron (an old 40 watt unit; I also have one of those old Weller 100+ watt "guns" - but that would be real overkill). Finally, the price was great, and the tool itself was well built - I really do with I had bought one of these a long time ago (though when I was younger, such a tool wasn't really in the budget). So if you're hesitant to buy one of these for something you think might need it - don't. Buy it. You'll really wonder how you ever did things without it.

All functions operate and meets my expectations for removing and installing SMT components including those IC's that have ground pads on the bottom side. I really the shutoff feature when setting the unit back in the stand. I found a multi-language instruction flyer under the packing foam in the unit box, but the label directions were sufficient to get started. Plenty of heat and air flow.

Update: I wanted you to know that the stellar reached out and replaced the defective unit. I’ve waited a heartbeat before updating this review to verify that the heat gun was actually working long-term now and I’ve had no issues today and am thrilled the seller replaced it for me. I think that says a whole hell of a lot about them and their willingness to stand behind their product. Original review: I do not recommend anyone waste their money on this product. Although it works good short term, in less than 90 days it overheated on two occasions refused to get to temperature on a dozen occasions in simply shut off twice. These are all dangerous situations and I have ceased to use this product. It now is an expensive paperwork on the desk. I hope this helps somebody.

I loved it! I have over 10y of experience with Electronic Engineering, and have used many top brand Hot Air Stations. This one doesn't let you down in any aspect compared to the more expensive ones. People who are complaining about it either doesn't know how to use a Hot Air Station or doesn't know how to rework SMD components. It works perfectly, I have 0 complaints about it, best cost benefit if you want to have at home without spending too much with professional ones.

Pleasantly surprised! + The packaging is very neat and tidy. + The build quality is pretty good (imo) for what you pay. + Waaaaay quieter than I thought. (there is a good amount of coil whine at 4/¹⁰ and below for my unit) + Magnet in stand to put device to sleep (cools off to ~100°c and shuts fan off) + Quick to heat up and handy beeper when at temp. + Manual is long-winded, but you can tell effort was put into translating. - Stand wants to fall over occasionally when docking and I wish there was a way to mount it to the side of the control box. - Cable to tool has some memory but is still pretty flexible. Notes: × The nut for the tool connector is easily cross-threaded. Take care when installing. × [OFF] = Tool is off but still powered. × [---] = Tool is in standby. Remove from cradle to resume. × Press and hold (setup) to toggle between [OFF] and [---]. × While in standby: Press: (🔺️/🔻) to adjust temp Press: (setup) + (🔺️/🔻) to adjust fan speed [F01]➡️[F10]

As a retired EE who has been designing, debugging and reworking PCBAs since 1979 - I was blown away! This little unit is Perfect for my "weekend warrior" surface mount needs (and heatshrinking duties). Excellent quality, quiet airflow, intuitive temp control adjustment, perfect size for my mostly-cluttered workbench - and thoughtful automatic cooldown when using the front panel OFF control (not the main power switch). This is FULL FEATURED for a simple and very inexpensive tool. I have no idea how long it will last, but the overall build quality (excellent cords and connectors), responsiveness of the heater and temp display when adjusting temperature - along with the automatic cooldown cycle when turning OFF, tells me that it will last long enough to satisfy me that this was money well-spent. Whoa — this deserves six stars. I need to add something to my original review. This unit comes with a stand for the hot-air pencil, and it turns out there’s a magnet in that stand. When you set the tool down, it automatically drops into cooldown/standby mode. That means it protects the heating element, prevents accidental scorching of anything on the bench, and remembers my temperature setting so it immediately resumes when I pick it up again. An unexpected and genuinely delightful feature — especially when working on multiple parts and needing to set the tool down between steps.

This Item didn’t work as supposed to. I used about two times and at the third time didn’t turn on. I did many different things to make it work but it doesn’t turn on no matter what. I ordered the parts for my project to soon as I wanted to be prepared but because of this I wasn’t able to make a return. Unfortunately I had to purchase a different one to finish my project.

Buying anything this inexpensive is often a gamble. This one paid off. I'm a stickler for precision so I immediately checked the temperature calibration against my calibrated thermocouple meter. As you can see in my photo, the actual temp was about 10F higher than indicated. However, the calibration offset is adjustable. From the factory it had already been adjusted -16F. I dropped that further to -25F and it was dead nuts accurate. And to be fair, it's not really that important when you consider that under normal operation, the working exhaust temperature is going to be around 700-750F anyway. I'm just anal about these things. My only other complaint was the small wand stand. Great for portability if that's your primary concern. Not so great IMHO because it tips fairly easily. I screwed mine to a wooden base made from a scrap piece of 1x4 pine. Also drilled 3 holes to stack all of the nozzles for easy access. Pros: Reasonably accurate temperature calibration out of the box. Does not consume a lot of bench space. Cord for the wand is very flexible and easy to maneuver. Nice large assortment of nozzles. Good quality 304 stainless tweezers. Unlikely to become magnetized. Very portable. Very inexpensive. Cons: A little tricky to program. Don't discard the instruction manual. Wand stand easy to tip over. Needs a larger base for stability. Aside from factory defects that some people seem to have had, I would argue anyone else complaining about it simply does not know how to use it. I find it to be an excellent value.

Perfect , works as described, comes with many accessories, tweezers etc. heat get to temperature super quick, well made, sturdy. no issues

Es más de lo que esperaba, lo probé durante un tiempo para ver si realmente era funcional y lo es en todos los aspectos, entrega el calor marcado y es muy práctica la manera en que está reducida la estación, es lo mismo que una estación grande solo que en esta esta reducida su fuente para trabajos sin mucho espacio

I don't do a lot of SMT repair anymore, but I still need a hot air gun that I can precisely control the temp and air flow. This tool fits that bill perfectly.

Muy práctico y regulable la intensidad de calor con encendido y apagado automático al quitar y colocar en su base

Un excelente producto, bien construido y entrega la temperatura que se lee en pantalla.